Cofertility, a startup co-founded by Lauren Makler and Halle Tecco, has recently completed a $7.25 million Series A funding round. Next Ventures and Offline Ventures co-led the investment round. This new round brings the company’s total funding to $16 million. Our aim is to create a way for women who want to donate their eggs through freematch to do so without incurring direct costs.
Cofertility provides an innovative model to help bring the power of egg freezing to women — for free. By donating half of the eggs they have retrieved, these women directly assist an individual or couple battling infertility. Their smart solution seeks to address the exorbitant costs of egg freezing directly. It prevents the cycle of commodification from forming and further promotes truly altruistic motivations for egg donation. The startup’s egg donors are all over the board. Most importantly, about 55% of them have earned a graduate degree, illustrating a wildly diverse pool of prospective donors.
What sets Cofertility apart in the crowded fertility marketplace is their unique “Split” program. This program simultaneously retrieves eggs for both the donor and the intended parents. This program is unique as the only program of its kind that provides bulk eggs at a national level. It has grown to be an enormous force on the worldwide egg donation stage. This is why Cofertility functions as a marketplace to address a basic problem in the egg donation industry. Makler doesn’t want to define it like that.
The startup’s vision goes far beyond connecting people interested in egg donation. It seeks to eliminate the stigma surrounding the practice, fostering an environment where egg donation becomes a normalized option for women.
“There is zero shame in however you become a parent. Doing that with the help of a donor who’s also interested in freezing her own eggs is a really exciting option.” – Lauren Makler
Because of its operational model, Cofertility needs intended parents to pay for the coordination and egg retrieval. This approach is consistent with current norms of practice in egg donation. This structure effectively shields donors from having to pay a dime. It allows them to engage more openly and effortlessly.
As of writing, Cofertility has a deep bench of available donors in our network, prepared to help intended parents each step of the way.
“At any given time, we have hundreds of donors that are available for intended parents.” – Lauren Makler
This smart strategic positioning is giving the startup a unique opportunity to match the increased need for egg donors. It continues to maintain rigorous adherence to ethical practices.
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